


Learning the Truth

by CanaryWarrior



Category: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, I am really looking forward to Nancy and Ryan's relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23180857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanaryWarrior/pseuds/CanaryWarrior
Summary: Based on the promo for 1x17. Ryan figures out that Lucy was pregnant, and seemingly investigates with Nancy, who knows the truth.
Relationships: (mentioned) - Relationship, Nancy Drew & Ryan Hudson, Ryan Hudson/Lucy Sable
Comments: 10
Kudos: 92





	Learning the Truth

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I got inspired after watching the promo for the next episode (1x17), and since we have to wait a month to see it, I decided to write this. I hope you all enjoy it!

“Why was Lucy Sable haunting you?” Ryan asked Nancy, who could clearly see the gears working in his head. How did she get here? Ryan told her that he figured out Lucy was pregnant. She asked him why he cared, and he said because that baby was his. At least he cared, she’ll give him that much credit, but Nancy wasn’t ready to share the truth with him, and it would look suspicious if she turned down a mystery, so she agreed to help him.

“Because she wanted me to figure out what happened to her,” Nancy said smoothly. 

“And why you exactly?”

“Because it’s a well-known fact that I have a knack for solving mysteries, you know that, it’s why you asked me to help you. It’s why I’m here, at this hour of the night, with you instead of at home with my dad who just got free.” Nancy retorted. Things between her and her dad were rocky ever since she learned the truth, but he was her dad, no matter what. Ryan wasn’t, he didn’t raise her, he didn’t even know he had a kid until today.

“Then why didn’t she haunt Karen? She was her best friend, and she’s a cop!” Ryan asked. He knew Nancy was hiding something from him.

Damn, Ryan had a good point. He knew which questions to ask. “I don’t know, maybe because she gave the poison to Josh to try and kill you? And why do you want to find her baby anyway? It will be all grown up, maybe they have a family already.”

“Because, that baby is still my kid. I wasn’t able to raise them, but maybe if I find them, I can get to know them. And if they need help with anything…” Ryan trailed off. 

“Maybe your kid is fine! Maybe they don’t need your help with anything! Maybe they don’t want to be a Hudson!” Nancy exclaimed. She thought that she was done with the Hudson family. And then she found out she shared DNA with them. She had a good life, she knows that.

Ryan stopped and realized something. “You know who it is.” Nancy knew, she had to, which means she spent the entire day helping him find someone she already knew.

Nancy shook her head and fidgeted her hands. “No, no, I don’t.”

“You’re lying.”

“How do you know if I’m lying or not?”

Ryan motioned to her hands. “I always fidget my hands when I lie, too.” As soon as he said that, he froze. Nancy was allergic to wasps, just like him. Lucy trusted Carson and Kate Drew, they were the only ones who were there for her. She liked the life they had. It would make sense that Lucy would give her baby to a nice, loving family rather than his own. It was Nancy, it had to be. She hardly looks like Carson. She had his eyes, and she looked like the perfect combination of him and Lucy. “It’s you,” he breathed.

Nancy’s eyes widened. “What?” Did Ryan already figure it out?

Ryan teared up. “You’re my daughter, Lucy’s daughter…”

Nancy knew there was no point in hiding the truth anymore. “Lucy gave birth to me when she was at the bluffs. She called my mom in a panic, and she and my dad drove up to the bluffs. She gave me to them and begged them not to let your family know about me because Everett threatened her and me. They turned away for a second and then Lucy was gone. My dad climbed down to try to find her, but all he found was her dress,” Nancy explained what Carson told her, choking up at the end. She watched as a tear fell from Ryan’s eye and continued. “He and my mom moved and then we came back, so they could easily pass me off as their biological kid.”

Ryan couldn’t believe it. That night, when he was supposed to meet Lucy…She wanted to tell him about their child. If only he had arrived earlier, maybe she would still be alive. But could he have kept her and their child safe? He looked at Nancy, his daughter, all grown up, who called another man ‘dad’ and another woman ‘mom.’ No wonder Lucy started haunting Nancy now, she lost the mother who raised her, and Lucy probably didn’t want her to be completely motherless. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I only found out after my dad was freed. I sent in a few strands of my hair to a lab a friend of mine who had Lucy’s DNA and an unidentified female hair from her crown. I thought my mom had something to do with her death so I asked them to run a mother-daughter DNA test, and it was a match for Lucy. Then I went home and asked my dad to tell me the truth,” Nancy explained that she only knew for a day. “I’m still reeling from it. And Lucy’s dying wish was for my parents to keep me safe from…” Nancy trailed off, seeing how much pain Ryan was in. She didn’t want to rub salt on the wound and tell him that she didn’t want him and his family to know.

“My family,” Ryan finished. “And she included me in that because she thought I abandoned her, she thought that I wrote that email to her…” Ryan rubbed his hand over his face. God, why did his father do all of those things to Lucy? Why didn’t he fight harder for her? No wonder Nancy tried to hide the truth from him, why would she want to be a part of his family when she has a father like Carson Drew? A mother like Kate Drew? Hell, even Lucy helped her solve mysteries from beyond the grave. And what did he do? Nothing.

“Well, now Lucy knows that you didn’t write that email, and she knows that you obviously still love her,” Nancy tried to comfort him.

Ryan was amazed that Nancy was trying to comfort him, after everything. It was hard to believe that he had a daughter who was smart and compassionate, but then again, she was raised by the Drews. How would she have turned out if he raised her with Lucy? Would his parents even allow that? They would’ve gone to extreme lengths to get them out of his life. Maybe Nancy being raised by another family was the best thing for her. “Nineteen years too late, though. I’m sorry, it’s my fault you lost another mother. It’s my family’s fault that you almost lost your father. Carson, not me, I know I will never be a father to you. Lucy did the right thing when she gave you to the Drews. She was always the more mature one,” Ryan smiled tearfully. “I don’t blame you for taking me on this wild goose chase, I shouldn’t have asked you to help me.”

“Ryan…” the strawberry blonde started. She didn’t blame him for anything. “I don’t blame you for any of that. And when it came to helping me free my dad, you were there, because you’re not this bad person you’re painting yourself out to be, but because unlike your family, you care about others.”

Ryan felt another tear fall from his eye. So, Nancy didn’t see him as a terrible person from the Hudson family? “I know I have no right to ask this, but is it okay if… if I can get to know you?” Ryan asked desperately. He would understand if Nancy didn’t want anything to do with him, but he would never forgive himself if he didn’t ask.

“We already know each other, Ryan,” Nancy said softly, taking a step closer to her biological father.

“You know what I mean,” Ryan responded, with a small, watery smile.

Nancy returned his smile. “Yeah, I’d like that. But your parents can never know about me, okay? I’m pretty sure they already want me dead, don’t give them another reason…”

“I’ll never let them hurt you, I promise,” Ryan vowed. 

Nancy can see that he meant it. Maybe she made a mistake hiding the truth from Ryan. He wasn’t a bad guy. Nancy saw Ryan vulnerable a few times, but never like this. Lucy definitely saw this side of him, but did Tiffany? George? “I believe you.” 

Then, Nancy did something she never thought she would do since she met Ryan. She walked up to him and threw her arms around him. He reciprocated the action immediately and held on to her tightly. 

“You looked like you needed a hug. You probably needed one ever since Lucy died,” Nancy noted.

Ryan let out a soft sob. “Yeah, I did. God, I can’t believe it, you were right there and we had no idea… I mean, I took you to an underground auction and asked you to steal ancient coins…”

“Well, I’m a detective, and those were my ideas. And I was a suspect in your wife’s murder, I brought her a plate of poisoned food-’’

Ryan pulled away. “That wasn’t your fault. And it wasn’t George’s, Bess’s, or Ace’s faults either.”

“Yeah, we know, but that doesn’t stop us from feeling awful.” Nancy confessed. “Are you mad?”

Ryan looked confused. “About what?”

“About my parents lying to you? I mean, when my dad introduced you to me, he introduced me as his daughter. Now that I think about it, I wonder if he was internally panicking,” Nancy chuckled at that last part before continuing “Or about me hiding the truth from you until you figured it out?”

“No, I’m not mad at that, and I never will be. I’m glad that Carson and Kate raised you and protected you. And I could never blame you for wanting me to not know. I’m sorry that I brought it up to you.” Ryan revealed, and he meant every word of it. He didn’t mean to force her into revealing the truth, and he felt sick thinking about it.

Nancy smiled. “Well, you were bound to figure it out anyway, I’m not mad,” she assured him. “Hey, can we leave now? It’s been a long day.”

Ryan didn’t even realize how late it was. “Of course, I’ll drive you home.” 

They walked back to the car and got in. Ryan began driving. After a few minutes, he turned and saw that Nancy was asleep. He smiled softly and turned his eyes back to the road. He had a daughter, and he vowed to do whatever it takes to protect her.


End file.
